Mustafa Tamimi has died

Pictured left is activist Linah Alsaafin and center is Ola Tamimi, the martyr’s sister, after her brother was shot by the IDF. (Photo: Anne Paq/Activestills.org)

RIP, Mustafa Tamimi

(Photo: Activestills.org)

Mustafa Tamimi, a 28 year old resident of Nabi Saleh died from injuries sustained after an Israeli soldier shot him in the face with a tear gas canister. The impact blew off half of Tamimi’s face, and when his friends and family cried out in horror, Israeli soldiers laughed and said, “So?”. According to B’Tselem, Tamimi is the 20th person to have been killed in demonstrations in the West Bank in the last eight years.

Video of Tamimi laying injured and unconscious after the attack (extremely graphic):

Video of Ola Tamimi begging to go see her brother after he was shot. The Israeli soldiers didn’t let her go. Only his mother was allowed to go to hospital, and only after she received a permit which took some time.

What are Israeli soldiers doing in Nabi Saleh in the first place? The village has been besieged by its neighbors from the religious nationalist Israeli settlement of Halamish since Halamish was constructed in 1977 on land privately owned by Nabi Saleh’s residents. Recently, the settlers seized control of a fresh water spring that has belonged to Nabi Saleh since the village was built in the 19th century. In December 2009, the settlers uprooted hundreds of the village’s olive trees in an attempt to re-annex land awarded back to Nabi Saleh in an Israeli court case. Since then, farmers from Nabi Saleh have been subjected to routine attacks by settlers and prevented from working their land. The Israeli army has come down firmly on the side of Halamish, suppressing the demonstrations with disproportionate force while doing little, if anything, to prevent settler violence. But if the spirit of Nabi Saleh’s young demonstrators are any indication, the army has a long way to go before it breaks the villagers’ will.

That is very tame , I am sorry to report..I imagine this going on for so ver long over fourty years too, The shear unimaginable is always seemingly being outdone each hour , each day, and the worst part is that it is done with no regard by the American taxes that keep fueling the fire. Not to mention the insanity of the very politicians etc whom we elect and then back this and kow kow @ election time to another country all together, …not even the people whom put them there. Atrosities like this happen every where now more & more due to the lack of protest in America, majority is dumbed down with freedumb not freedom.

Not at all, eGuard. That wasn’t my point then, or now. I simply think that throwing a stone at these soldiers was foolish. Not a powerful or symbolic enough gesture to inspire others, not a powerful enough act to harm the soldiers he was fighting against. In other words, completely futile. And in the process, compromised what was branded as a peaceful protest. Why can’t you see that?

Point is that the IDF should not use a tear gas canister like a projectile weapon. it should be aimed up into the crowd for dispersal, not in a protestor’s face. There are ways of dispersing crowds, and the IDF soldier will ultimately go unpunished. This sets a sloppy precedent for military behavior. But hey, what do I know. It’s Israel – a special and mystical place (that’s what the tv commercial just boasted).

The Bloody Grim Reaper, hired by Israeli ,took his next, innocent, young Palestinian victim.
And the world watches. And American , snake-like “politicians” pledge their allegiance to the Allmighty Israel. They condemned loudly atrocities in Libya, now they are very “worried “about Syria , Russia and Iran.
They are obviously not worried about crimes committed on daily bases against Palestinians. Their “worries” are VERY selective.
R.I.P. Mustafa. You won’t be forgotten.
My condolences to his family.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEX1dYyvmig&feature=related

Doubt it. None of them will take a personal responsiblity for this death.
They will excuse themself on the “following the orders” mantra.
Plus, let’s don’t forget . People are the creature of habits. Once they are used to violence, aggression , murdering, shooting, they start perceiving this as their second nature. Brainwashing propaganda, that they experience on daily bases, does the rest of the job of removing any remorse, or sorry , guilty feeling.
Human nature is pretty easy to steer and manipulate.
Unfortunately, it’s easier to manipulate people into evil deeds.

i do not think they feel any remorse… i assume the soldier jokes about it at a bar as we speak, and his friends are slapping him on the back.

when i was in tel aviv i told a random kid i was jewish (father was raised jewish). he said gleefully, “come join the IDF and you can kill some arabs!!!”. the majority of young israelis relish violence if it is against an activist/militant. and a chunk of the younger israelis don’t discriminate at all.

one guy from ariel told me how after an arab shot an israeli in an arab market (in the OPT, pre-2nd intifada), and then how he and a number of people from ariel went to an intersection and were stopping cars, and pulling out and beating random palestinians. he told me this with no awareness of the insanity of it all…. it was pure terrorism and collective punishment, yet he told me the story with a bit of fond reminiscence.

one said “we should have killed them all in 1948”

another person who i knew well from a local bar and seemed apolitical, randomly said “we should kill them all”

and these are all secular people from tel aviv (and further this is in florentin, which is a trendy/artsy/hippie-like area).

i could recount more stories. i was quickly “numb” to such interactions, and would remain composed and offer sober questions in return, or nothing much at all.

not to say this is the “norm”, but the prevalence of such extremist views is shocking. those who do not share such views generally offer no reaction in the face of such comments. it is quite interesting, as racist and extremist outbursts are seemingly “normalized” in israel. the only time i saw people get really riled up was when i was proposing *moderate* criticism of the occupation and israeli policies (and i was soft-pedaling things for the israeli listener).

if you want to see how things go, i suggest you look at this exchange between me and my 2nd cousin from the negev (who i met only upon going to israel, but we got along great and hung out…. till he saw my facebook it seems). i was offering a free tour around jerusalem to any isrelis i knew on facebook, led by a jewish guide. he hit my facebook page with this rant (which had no basis), and then i responded. after i posted my response to his idiotic comments, my facebook page was shut down for ~12 hours (as was an apolitical friend’s FB page in NYC, who had replied to my latest posting, which seems inexplicable, but happened). then my FB page was shut down ~4 more times during the following week, but the length of the shutdown was generally short. nothing was ever deleted from my page, as it was all very moderate. i assume the issue was 1 or more israelis were reporting me.

this does speak to the disdain many israelis have towards americans, and specifically american jews. maybe max blumenthal can get a hebrew speaker to do a video recording of israelis speaking about americans and american jews…… it would be AMAZING. they even have a derogatory term for americans, “amercakee” or something, which incorporates the hebrew word for shit i believe.
——-pasted——
So this was posted directly on my wall, then deleted and re-posted as a comment on one of my links. Hey, I am at least glad the silence was broken, as not ONE Israeli (and I may have about 30+ on facebook) has said a thing about any of my links or comments (often from Israeli news sources, BTW). I will say, this is my distant cousin, and I hung out with him 2 times, enjoyably. And he is a nice guy as well, and smart. But I think I disagree with him on politics, quit a bit. But as I have dealt with so much BS, I will not hold back when refuting all of his idiotic, aggressive, and even dangerous ideas/comments.

Hi,
With all the respect, and you are really a nice guy, You are a Stupid American who came here for so short time, and think that you know more about Israel than everybody else….
What you said about Gilad Shalit is really stupid.
You don’t have the right to say that there is or isn’t an occupation.
If you want to understand what is going on here, live here, go to army, have all of your family here, and just then you will be able to understand.
Its so arrogant to come here, and start with all of “you are all wrong and cruel killing all those innocent people” sayings.
Please stop trying to change all this complicated situation.
You were born and raised In the US , and you really don’t know nothing about this country.
You are in a vacation now, just have fun,. And if you really want to do something, you can always go to work at Unicef or something.

1)”with all the respect”- Sorry, you meant “with absolutely no respect”.
“Stupid American”- OK you can think that, I won’t state my education, professional career etc. Awesome general comment with no basis. I’ll leave it at that.

2)“Think you know more about Israel than everybody else”- I never stated that, but I am confident I know more than many people here. But I know many people here who know much more than me. Then there is also understanding the conflict, and I am quite confident I understand it better than you. As far as knowledge though…. many people have said shit to me which proved I undeniably knew more about the reality on the ground or even Israeli policies, than they did. I have told people undeniable FACTS that shocked them… they didn’t know. So of the people I meet, I can state with confidence I knew more than some of them (many/most? possibly…).

3)“What you said about Gilad Shalit is really stupid.”- I think I said you have a right to be upset, but maybe should also be upset about other fucking humans as well (i.e. people other than Jewish Israelis in some blind nationalistic take on who you care about, especially when your state has hundreds of Palestinians in jail, and minors, often without a charge, and for BS reasons; but maybe you don’t know much about that? Often Israel holds many political/nonviolent prisoners, almost as bargaining chips, as they have frequently in the past organized prisoner exchanges where they release hundreds [ones they generally had no problem releasing anyways; so they find the “swaps” very easy] to get a few soldiers back).

4)“You don’t have the right to say that there is or isn’t an occupation.”- Pure crazy talk. Are you just a blind expansionist old-school Zionist? If the West Bank is now Israel…. as you may be saying…. when are we gonna give them citizenship, equal rights, a right to vote, freedom of movement, control over their resources, etc.? I shouldn’t even keep going on this denial of reality. I have the right to call it an occupation because under international law, and to anyone who knows the definition of the term “occupation”, IT IS AN OCCUPATION. They aren’t “disputed territories”, they are occupied. And East Jerusalem was ILLEGALLY annexed, and no country has officially recognized the annexation. We are trying to put the genie back in the bottle, and stop Zionist expansion, as in 1948 I think they secured enough territory relative to their ~30% population. But I think of course, Israel is not letting go of East Jerusalem, but pluralistic international control would be the BEST way to go…. Israel will not. Oh well. Jewish heritage/holy sites first, fuck the fact that the 3 major religions have very interesting sites there (with MANY MANY more adherents to the other BS religions…. you’d think we would share and internationalize the area; but that is not the Zionist platform, and it will not be the case). But continue to Judaize the city, and deny non-Jewish permits for building, ALWAYS. It doesn’t do anything to inflame the situation at all….

5)“If you want to understand what is going on here, live here, go to army, have all of your family here, and just then you will be able to understand.”- OK first off, many people (well sadly, a very small percentage) who live here and served in the IDF think EXACTLY as I do. But this fucking pithy comment I have heard many times. Great way to cut off debate though, and feel safe NOT ADDRESSING A SINGLE VALID POINT OR COMMENT I MAKE ON THE ISSUE IN MY POSTS. I do agree living here you get some “things”, but it is a double edged sword. People who live here are prone to being BIASED, just as Palestinians can be biased, or unrealistic in their goals. But how about this…. YOU GO FUCKING LIVE IN THE WEST BANK, AND MAYBE THEN YOU WILL GET IT. I really don’t know what most Israelis think a Palestinian civilian should DO in the face of the occupation… really what should they DO? Nonviolent protests are met with arrest, and brutal repression, and even deaths. They have no option, so now they are going to the international community. Sometimes, some people, and some groups have resorted to terrorism, in an entirely counterproductive attempt to be heard (I won’t rehash pre-Israel Jewish terror acts, Israeli “state terrorism”, or settler violence, etc.). The Palestinains essentially gave up terrorism, with the Gaza exception (though Hamas is now fighting splinter groups to STOP the rockets; hard to do when people are getting shot farming the “buffer zone” within Gaza, and they are STILL denied normal flow of goods, but the Israeli GOVERNMENT actually knows what reaction its illegal policies will cause… then they have a great way to somehow excuse the shit they do, and the expansion, and the “lack of a partner”). But I will tell you one thing…. you want a switch to flip in every Palestinian brain where they are happy w/ no recognition of their rights from fleeing in 47/48? And they passively accept the post-’67 Israeli EXPANSIONISM? Not gonna get such a switch, so just fuck them harder and build more settlements. But I now know ALL the tropes people pull to try to explain/excuse it; not logical, but it helps them sleep at night content with their BS constructs of the mind. Also let me refute your “live here” asinine comment with some general logic looking at GENERAL history….. whenever a country goes off the rails the international community almost always looks in with clarity and knows how to best proceed… but whatever the power dynamics in the country are tends to define the progression…. the powerful continue fucking until either there is international pressure, or they finally wake up and get it on a civil level. This is true in the US civil rights movement, apartheid South Africa, India, etc. etc. But then there are also, baseless tropes people believe to discredit and ignore any criticism… “the world is antisemitic” “the UN is anti-Israel” you have so many beautifully constructed empty ideas to avoid the fucking issue.

6) ‘Its so arrogant to come here, and start with all of “you are all wrong and cruel killing all those innocent people” sayings.’- Well, you are making up quotes…. I never said that. And I separate the STATE policies of Israel, which are fucking insane, BUT SOME DEFENSIBLE AND UNDERSTANDABLE, from the people (only a minute amount of people in the IDF are out to kill or beat Palestinian civilians [I fear it may be a little more than minute…. but whatever; some units are KNOWN for the violence on civilians; yeah I know your fucking IDF well enough; and they require a baptism by violence to prove yourself in some checkpoint units], plus a minute amount of ideological settlers placed right in the occupied territories openly espouse violence and are RARELY prosecuted). I generally focus on INDEFENSIBLE POLICIES. However, arrogance may be defined by your inability to address a single issue and assume only an Israeli can get it (but I agree with SOME Israleis….. what are they… what do you say to them?). That is arrogant. SOME ISRAELIS GET IT, SOME INTERNATIONALS GET IT, GOT IT? I don’t THINK you get it.

7)“Please stop trying to change all this complicated situation.”- No I won’t….sorry. I’m a human being first (and almost only), and I will fight US policy and whatever policies, especially ones which directly/indirectly affect me. I could give a hundred reasons why I consider Israel/Palestine an issue I work on. But at a simple level, my country gives a lot of money and political cover to Israel, and this even affects the general level of “anti-Americanism”. We can just leave it at that, but no justification is even required. Why did people work on apartheid South Africa? Because it was wrong, and they care about people…. that is my main reason. Also regarding complexity…. this is complex, and yet FUCKING simple at the same time. I get the whole “it’s complex” argument often in a way to say “fuck it”…. “wait a hundred years” bla bla bla. MANY OF YOU ARE LOST IN THE “COMPLEXITY”. Work out the complexity, view the amazing simplicity which is apparent with many issues, and get your shit together.

8)“You were born and raised In the US , and you really don’t know nothing about this country.”- I guess because I “don’t know nothing” you know you are saying I know something…? It is called a double negative (sorry I don’t usually digress to meaningless issues, separate from the point, but this one is funny). It may be the one true statement in your screed.

9) “You are in a vacation now, just have fun,. And if you really want to do something, you can always go to work at Unicef or something.”- I am having fun, but the MANY people who say such baseless crap like this do give me a headache (it’s like a fucking talking point, I always hear the same, retarded “logic” shit; is there a BOOK for Israeli ignorance perpetuating “ideas”?) But also, many people I meet I can have very nice discussions with. And sorry, I think I will be doing some work on this issue while here. I hope international pressure builds and the many international workers within Palestinian civil society, and within Israel have a positive effect. I have not seen any negative effects come from our work….. but I do see the trajectory Israel has been on and will maintain DESPITE our work, to it’s own detriment, world Jewry, the region, etc. I am not a “blame Israel for everything” type….. but your state is causing some real issues…. but perhaps let’s just focus on the 4 million people living either under (1) violent, suffocating apartheid or (2) a siege and collective punishment, because they voted the wrong way… and we helped pressure the coup because we didn’t want to talk to Hamas. Hey, I don’t want the Palestinians to have to talk to WAR CRIMINALS/TERRORISTS like Begin and Sharon, but they tried to. And isn’t that also one of the common Israeli “ideas” that “only right wingers can make peace” [total BS]. Then why DIDN’T you just talk to the Hamas led gov rather than force Fatah to try a coup by lobbying to cut off all funds to the PA?…. I actually do not know…. but people in the gov have talked of divide and rule for a long time. Maybe some are smiling that there is no “viable peace partner”…. build build build.

I love that the only statement which wasn’t a common BS Israeli approach to deflect outside criticism was your double negative.

Who is stupid now?…. don’t even come to me with such simplistic BS comments. Just block my feed and passively let Israel continue doing its insane shit, at your own expense and own insecurity. And you can even (cause you are “smart”) rationalize and excuse all it’s fucking insane actions. You were in the IDF, you live here, yup…. you get it. Good luck…. cause in the next two years you are probably going to engage another regional enemy (ha, just stop occupying THEIR land as WELL) to distract attention from the international pressure to STOP EXPANDING, and GIVE BACK STOLEN LAND…. and missiles will hit Tel Aviv. The option for peace is there EVERY DAY… but not ACTUALLY there because the MAJORITY of Israelis hold such retarded ideas in their heads. And I don’t see you guys getting it, you have shifted over time further towards isolation, and more pervasive ignorance. Or more complex INCORRECT rationalizations.

Guess what… this country is educated and whatnot…. but I do NOT have some idea of Jewish exceptionalism when it comes to the way the “Jewish state” will act. Maybe you have some personal attachment because it is formulated as the Jewish state (many Jews do this…. and they aren’t even religious… it is odd). Well, grow up intellectually, and start criticizing your own gov rather than excusing the inexcusable.

By the way, if you ever want to have a beer and discuss, I am perfectly fine with it. Or call it a no politics zone. I am sincere, Israelis are able to argue, and still be chill. But if not, and your comments were a little over the top… then it was nice to meet you.

And I will say the sad thing. The PEOPLE on both sides want peace (even you I assume), and the PA does/did (read all the Palestine papers and come back to me in a few days). Israel holds the fucking chips, of course. But the Israelis are, in GENERAL, not able to see the opportunity because bad ideas, false logic, weird generalizations and empty rhetoric is filling so many people’s heads… and the other barrier is the GOVERNMENT is happy with continued expansion at the cost of a little insecurity. This is why I responded to your out of the blue posting with such passion. I think I do get it, along with many people I know. And we have to fight these pervasive “ideas” with logic…. but we are failing. And I think we will fail. So I will try to leave before you stage your next military adventurism in the region, rather than REALIZING a VIABLE peace is very easy if you just give back the occupied land, and give a passing nod to the plight of the refugees in symbolic gesture, with compensation.

This conflict is so fucking retarded.

One amazing thing almost none of you GET….. you don’t even need a peace partner…. what’s the point anyways when you keep abusing and selecting for a pliable “partner” then talk for periods about nothing, avoiding a deal?….. i would unilaterally just say this if I was Israel’s “dictator”….

“We are returning to the legal internationally recognized pre-1967 borders, and we will compensate Palestinian refugees with the evacuated settlements we built on their illegally occupied and expropriated land. We will evacuate the illegal settlements over the next 2-5 years, during which we will resettle them within our internationally recognized borders. We will establish international pluralistic control over the old city, as originally proposed in that 1947 partition plan (that one we “accepted”, remember?). We will allow a very limited number of refugees to return, over a 10 year period. Purely symbolic gesture. Also….. we are sorry, 1947-48 was a little messed up on both sides, but we are really attached to the Jewish state thing. And my sincere apologies for the whole apartheid thing when we put some CRAZY settlers right in the middle of hebron, and a mix of regular people and crazed settlers all over the west bank. and the destroyed ancient olive groves. and giving you water only a few hours a day/days a week. and when we gave you water, only allowed 1/5th what we allowed per head to the illegal settlements (which got 24 hour water, from your aquifers). and some massacres by some settlers. some sporadic beatings and deaths. sometimes a settler started a fight, but due to our STATE policies we were sometimes forced to kill the Palestinian because of rules of engagement. really, many needless deaths. and we are also giving back the occupied land in lebanon and syria…. really, we are just giving up this expansion thing unilaterally, we got enough land in 1948. i don’t know how we even were able to use such odd logic to justify the expansion you all knew was likely, given the position of the world zionist congress, and the words of so MANY prime ministers.”

INSTANT PEACE MOTHERFUCKERS…. but of course, you could also foster an environment where you get a stable PA partner, like you had for DECADES, and AGREE to the exact same peace (THEY tried to ACCEPT much less already,multiple times!!)… that is slightly preferable. BUT YOU WON’T AND WE MIGHT HAVE A MINI-ARMAGEDDON SOON. Awesome.

Appreciate your cut and paste from your fb page. I ain’t a member so I can’t access it – and don’t want to frankly.

Your ‘cousin’ sounds like a nightmare racist vicious moron. I hope you gave him a wedgie or two when you were all kids.

Must be very difficult for anti-zionist jews to have to contend with all the fascism thrown at them by zionist members. What the heck can you do except stand firm on the side of truth and justice and not blood, especially in the face of ethnic cleansing and slow-mo holocausts.

Taxi, I understand your feeling and somehow I guess I share part of it. In the meantime we all know violence only brings more violence.

What we wish for Mustafa’s family and the Palestinian people at large is peace. Peaceful demonstrations will again be met with lethal violence by the Israeli thugs but at the end of the day they’ll lose everything.

As much as darkness does not exist, it is the absence of light, hate does not exist either, it is the absence of love and metaphorically the absence of light. I believe that in the end we will all see that the light unto the nation is … Palestine.

You are right Taxi. Raw Power is afraid only of another Raw Power. History proved it to us many times. I can not give you even one example, when the Power, all of a sudden, transformed itself in a peaceful lamb.
I do not think such an example exists.

Taxi, watch this video.
It ‘s about Polish Resistance movement during WWII. Very strong, very organised., very effective. The best in occupied Europe.
Also the least acknowledged after the war. Unknown and underapprieciated. There aren’t too many good videos in English, unfortunately.
They fought because they knew ,there was no other way.
Even though, now, one may ask a question ,why? what for?
It was not awarded, or appreciated (Poland was given to a communistic Russia after the war, many of those people died either from Germans, or laters from Russians).
But then, why do we fight evil? Why some of us do it?
Why we know that this is the right thing to do, no matter what??
The August 1, 1944 Warsaw Uprising. The incredible fight with Germans.
They fought literally for every street, every building , every corner. They were defeated, Warsaw was burned into the ground after that, but the memory of those Polish, young Spartans will live forever as a symbol of fighting against the evil, “until death will do us apart”.
Sometimes fight is the only way of life , sometimes death in a fight/battle is the only ,honorable exit.
And everybody has to make this decision in their own minds and hearts, since it isn’t an easy one.

The root of all evil is what defines humanity. Opposing forces, good and evil, yin and yang, left and right. We’re all literally two people (the split brain thing, one side is logical and one is creative) with one side dominant over the other. It’s only when you can balance the good and the bad that you begin to harness your true potential (on the individual level). Learning to communicate with yourself, just as in life. Think of it like Liberty and Justice, and Justice is blind and holds a scale.

This is why Israel doesn’t want a nuclear Iran. It will balance their power. This pissing match goes on all over the world and is the cause of all wars. We should all get along and accept our differences and trade with each outer but we won’t. Israel needs to be dominated and never allowed to get the upper hand. Non-violence only goes so far and it’s unfortunate but a fact.

Violence can be just if used to ‘defend’ and even though Israel’s definition of defense is offense, the Palestinians are being oppressed and should defend themselves as best as possible. Going after innocents is bad, going after the oppressor holding the leash is not so bad.

The IDF is at least as bad as those murderers of Ms. Luken! It’s great you’re able to equate the two!

At the same time, Israel is a colonial settler-State and kills more civilians and more children in addition to subjugating an entire people while it steals land and resources from them.

Oh and, I suppose the big difference between Mustafa being murdered by the IDF and Ms. Luken being murdered by 4 Palestinian men is that those Palestinians were charged with murder. The IDF gets away with murder all the time and when soldiers are actually convicted – they get out of jail very quickly.

Like the guy who sniped Tom Hurndall through the head.

Tom was protecting Palestinian children that people like you regularly murder in the West Bank. He successfully saved a child and then returned to the street to get another and then was shot.

The Israeli murderer did some time and is now free. He will have no trouble finding a job and functioning in Israeli society because if you murder internationals or Palestinians, you face no social consequences.

Wiki: On 27 June 2005, Hayb (sharpshooter who gunned down Hurndall) was convicted of manslaughter, obstruction of justice, giving false testimony and inducing comrades in his unit to bear false witness; and, on 11 August 2005, he was sentenced to eleven and a half years for manslaughter by a military court, of which he was to serve eight years in prison.

This is actually in line what other countries are doing. The charge of murder is hardly ever applied to soldiers or police. “In a four-month-long trial, despite claims that he was following orders from his commanding officer, Captain Medina, Calley was convicted on March 29, 1971, of premeditated murder for ordering the shootings. He was initially sentenced to life in prison. Two days later, however, President Richard Nixon made the controversial decision to have Calley released, pending appeal of his sentence. Calley’s sentence was later adjusted, so that he would eventually serve three and one-half years under house arrest at Fort Benning.”. This is about My Lai.

Now, DanMazella, let me hear you say that about each killing and murder committed by the Zionists over the years. About the rape of Palestinians. About the destruction of hundred of Palestinian villages. About the deportations and genocide against Palestinians. About the theft of Palestinian houses and land, including mine. About the enslavement and imprisonemnt of Palestinians.

Do I hear you say what about that, DanMazella? Yes, TOTAL SILENCE, as I expected.

How about the 1400 Palestinians killed in Gaza in 2008/2009, the majority of whom were civilians, including 350 children. Oh yeah, thats right you Zionists don’t like to talk about these murders or the fact that these murders were not an isolated case by Israel or that Israel has repeatedly carried out mass murders of Palestinians for decades.

If you actually live in NJ, you have loads of access to media and reading material on the occupation of Palestinians. Your comments are child-like and if you really are 41 years old and I’m not sure there’s any hope for you to see what this blog uncovers.
Check out Altas Shrugged, there will be plenty more ditto
heads for you to agree with.

Dan, don’t you think you should show your comments at Mondoweiss (remember, they are all collected in an easy-to-access archive) to your Rabbi, or a Jewish community leader you follow, and ask him “Do you think this is helping or hurting Israel, and the effort for peace”.
You seem to have no ability to judge that. Why don’t you ask a coreligionist whose opinion you respect? What are your comments intended to do?

The only way someone purposely killed like that can R.I.P is to hold the individual responsible for aiming that canister directly at his face ACCOUNTABLE.
“He was throwing rocks at the jeep, the door opened and the canister was fired with PRECISION and INTENT IN HIS FACE”

In other words hold the fucking killer accountable. Who was the individual who threw that canister?

very good video: pacifying resistance.
I think seafoid put this a few times. Worth seeinghttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssYBZmK9hmA
“I do believe that, where there is only a choice between cowardice and violence,
I would advise violence….I would rather have﻿ India resort to arms in order to defend her honour than that she should, in a cowardly manner, become or remain a helpless witness to her own dishonour.”
– Mahatma Gandhi

Would someone link this you tube video for me
Jewish life more valuable than Palestinians.mp4

So glad that Jeff Blankfort caught this on his phone. I have asked many Jewish students and individuals if they thought that Jewish lives are more valuable to Palestinians and others lives. I have heard far too many Jews say “yes” to this question and have found it deeply disturbing.

Outside of the Aipac conference a few of us were talking with a young Palestinian man who had lost two of his brothers to what he described as violent and unnecessary brutal actions of Israeli soldiers. The young Palestinian man was weeping as he told his story. I noticed an older man who had an Aipac conference badge on listening and clearly smirking. As I asked him whether he thought a Jewish life was more valuable than a Palestinian life and he answered “yes” to my question. Jeff Blankfort caught the end of my interchange with him and then repeated the same question “is a Jewish life more valuable than a Palestinian’s life” He answered again “yes” Blankfort called him a “Jewish racist” which he clearly was./is

If Jeff had kept capturing that moment you would have seen and heard this Jewish man’s wife go stark raving mad screaming “yes” to that question. Insane

yep that is the one of the two of us (Blankfort and me). I was watching this older mans face as the young Palestinian man was telling his story and his smirking was so obvious that I went right after him. Jeff began catching the interchange after we were going at it and then asked the question again. When his wife went off I was sorry Jeff did not catch that she was insane and a total racist. Have seen and heard this type of racist behavior and comments coming out of young and older Jewish individuals alike.

That older man had been standing listening to the young Palestinian man describing the death of his brothers. I could see him smirking and said he is talking about the deaths of his brothers by Israeli forces. The man answered “so” So for heavens sake. So dismissive, so arrogant, so racist

I can only imaaaaagine his wife’s reaction. She probaly behaved like a drug addict ,who just found out ,that his only portion of drugs, for a day ,got stolen.
BTW . Let’s reverse the conversations.
Let’s pretend that a member of ANY country would publically say: “Yes, I think German, American, Russian. Palestinian, Libyan, Polish, Chinese life is MORE important than Jewish life”.
Can you imagine the outrage od all Jewish communiteis all over the world over it? ADL would immediately issued a strong statement condeming ” this anti-Semitic sentence”.

” The man answered “so” So for heavens sake. So dismissive, so arrogant, so racist.”

I don’t believe there is any cure for people comsumed with that kind of hate except incapacitating them politically and socially. This why I said the other day that fear and fear of punishment can be healthy. They need to be made to fear the consequences of their narcissistic racism and what they support and enable.
If they think there are no consquences they will keep on…this has been our problem with Israel and the zionist from the beginning…never any punishment or consquences for their actions.

You are correct. Simple psychology. If you let your child to do whatever he wants, won’t punish/straighten his aggresive actions towards others,
then you are raising yourself a bully, who will eventually bully you as well, once you get older and powerless.

Israel has moved beyond being an apartheid state; Israel is a pariah which offends Jewish people with its daily existence. Isrel preys upon defenseless people to steal their land, destroy their culture. Israel survives by sucking out the life of the Palestinian people; Israel has no soul.

There is enough video of Israel’s criminal enterprise to make a complete film.
Why doesn’t someone make this film?

There is a film Life in a Day
that is based on submitted video
clips from people around the world.

Some filmmaker needs to show the USA what the
scales of the monster looks like in graphic detail.
Because Isreal’s strategy of a slow simmering occupation
allows their criminal enterprise to go unnoticed in the US media.

mustafa tamimi
age 28
palestinian
while protesting the israeli conquest of his homeland
he was shot dead with a tear-gas cannister
mustafa died for his people
for all people
that there be no conquests no more
in a world that’s just and free

This is the cruelity of occupation agianst an unarmed civlialan who non-violently protests the confiscation of his lands. This is the culture of claiming others’ lives. A justifcation will be there whoever the murdered person.

BullS*%#!!!!!!! This happened at a border that was erected by the Israelis in order to protect their citizens from the marauding Arabs who seek to continuously infiltrate Israel to spread death and havoc. This was one of their regularly scedualed ‘protests’ designed to produce ‘martyrs’. Mission accomplished.

I’m pretty sure that if you throw a rock at a cop in the USA that you can be shot under rules of deadly force. I don’t see why the rules should be any different anywhere else.

Soldiers and cops are paid to win, not paid to fight fair.

Taking a knife to a gunfight is stupid. Taking a rock to an armored vehicle gunfight is terrorist class stupid. Most of those fools, when they want to die, just strap on the last in explosive outerwear fashions and detonate themselves.

I don’t know how the coroner could tell the cause of death was brain damage. The idiot obviously had some brain damage before the cannister ever hit him.

Throwing large rocks are throwing deadly weapons. ! This is known from all the people who have been killed by them . Israel uses gas cannisters so they don`t have to use bullets against these deadly protestors.Perhaps they can just use gas sprays but it is to the deadly rock throwers that the guilt lies !!

Tamimi’s supporters accused soldiers of using excessive force to deal with the protester. “The question is not whether the person is throwing stones or not throwing stones, the question is whether the army is allowed to use deadly force from within an armored vehicle,” said activist Pollak. The canisters, which emit acrid smoke, are meant to push back crowds. But some Israeli troops have fired them directly at demonstrators, causing severe injuries and death.

The military spokeswoman said that forces generally used canisters “to contain the violent and illegal riots that place in Judea and Samaria,” referring to the West Bank by its Biblical name. “Such means were used during the course of yesterday’s riot in Nabi Saleh.”

taxi- on bad days i somewhat agree with you, and of course there is violent resistance in gaza, and remnants or solo acts from the west bank (though rare).

of course, strategy must be taken into consideration. both the massive imbalance of power, and of course the political implications such resistance has in the international community. i feel that if israel continues as she has (and she will), the door might open for popular resistance which has tactics and goals that can be better digested by the international community.

specifically, if a group unilaterally claims the occupied territories as the state, and all armed persons and military targets within the illegally occupied territories a valid target (and even targets in israel, if they can be targeted within the constraints of international law; ie no terrorism/2nd intifada repeat). however, even with such delineated violence, i fear the move may be counterproductive, given the PA forces in the west bank which would be repressive, the imbalance of power, and the international political ramifications.

so in the end i always seem to return to the conclusion that massive unarmed resistance, but also with stones and direct actions, might be the best course (which is the current course for all the resistance i know in the west bank). i feel ultimately the target of the movement is the world community, american jewry, and even israelis. victory through force of arms seems like a pipe dream, and we have seen historically that this even plays into israel’s favor….

“so in the end i always seem to return to the conclusion that massive unarmed resistance, but also with stones and direct actions, might be the best course (which is the current course for all the resistance i know in the west bank). i feel ultimately the target of the movement is the world community, american jewry, and even israelis. victory through force of arms seems like a pipe dream, and we have seen historically that this even plays into israel’s favor….”

I have to disagree mous….based on Israel’s behavior for 6 decades. Not that force of arms by the Palestine could win since they don’t even have any force of arms worth mentioning. But that Israel would ever capitulate to Palestine’s non violent protest or international outrage or anything except a more powerful force hurting them in ways they can’t stand.
The solution to most of the killing would be multi national peacekeeping forces between Palestine and Israel as Palestine has requested many times and the US has prevented.
The most non violent solution to it all would be if the US withdrew support of Israel, which isn’t going to happen soon, if ever, or if the US would even support a Palestine State at the UN.
The final solution would be for Israel to attack Iran because it would be mostly destroyed despite it defenses and even if the US was involved. If it wasn’t for the fact that many innocent people in Iran, Israel and Palestine, and probably Lebanon, would be killed and Israel without doubt would totally wipe out Palesine under cover of these attacks, I would say go ahead assholes, get your war on and destroy yourselves and good riddance to you.

Non violent protest by Palestines with no corresponding interference by internationals in their favor will go down to the last Palestine standing or transferred out of Palestine.
I know they have no other means to resist Israel but just telling you Israel will continue to kill them and steal their land until they are stopped by force…military or financial….and more than BDS….other government ‘s sanctions on them.

I think we are actually in agreement. That’s why I note the massive transformation in international pressure as the main goal. Which is also why I note that the tactics of resistance should consider the effect on the international community (which is continually loosing patience with Israel and gaining in knowledge of the situation; and growing in size both bottom up and top down).

And I slightly agree that Israel may close it’s own coffin by engaging Iran. However, I do not think Israel will necessarily loose such an engagement, nor even start it “themselves”. We have to keep in mind Israel’s military might, which would be combined with America’s and possibly those of other nations. Further we have to note Israel’s “mad dog” posture, and the Samson option. So basically, Iran might balk at trying to outright *defeat* Israel after being bombed, as such a move would likely ensure Iran’s decimation….

I know they have no other means to resist Israel but just telling you Israel will continue to kill them and steal their land until they are stopped by force…military or financial….and more than BDS….other government ‘s sanctions on them.
I vote for financial means to stop them, as a combination of popular BDS, followed by governments actually sanctioning them, and/or conditioning trade/arms sales. Not only would a military confrontation be a bloodbath, it would destroy the land itself, it would go nuclear, and further I do not see nations aligning to take that fateful step. Arab nations (the people) care deeply for the plight of Palestinians, but even populist leaders of said nations, should they get power, will weigh such a move against their own national interests. A decimated military, a nuked city (or cities), and being scorned by the “West” is not a logical move for even the most fiery of Arab (or Persian) leaders.

For a murderer to commit a murder , ANY reason is good enough. Wrong smile, wrong hair color, wrong word, wrong gesture.
ANY reason, or even NO reason.
The problem is ,why this murderer is getting away with its murders??
Why he is welcomed on the red carpets, offered standing ovations, paid homage by other people, who want to be perceived as a good, decent, kind, God fearing people??
Why do they all bow to him?
What does he have that they like it so much??
Are they afraid of him SO much??

IDF is a bullshit organization, period. Tear gas canisters are designed to be fired up high to disperse crowds. The pathetic IDF uses them as direct projectiles and aims for the heads of protesters. I thought Israelis know how to read directions.

But seriously, Israel is finished in the next half century unless they make some serious changes. The hostility is ripe for their destruction, and all they do is whine about being hated. They cant figure that shit out? suckers…
You cannot become a successful society with such an ugly record that the world sees everyday and expect to be treated with kid-gloves. They are becoming a laughing stock.

Israel.
Raises and teaches its kids to hate implacably then sends them out to maim and kill the ‘objects’ of national hate.
Uses worldwide co-religionists to fund its evil enterprise and buy off the politicians of its sponsor nation.
Israel = EVIL

I would like to think that I am a pacifist. But know that if someone took one of my siblings, one of my three daughters out they would have to watch their backs. Now I know this is the wrong response but it would take a miracle for me not to want to retaliate. An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.

I seem to remember Gandhi embraced non-violent struggle because he was 100% sure it will work. I also seem to remember him saying that, if he was sure non violent struggle doesn’t work he would turn to violence to achieve freedom.

Those who do not retaliate are slaves. Those who know they will win by not retaliating are few, and an exception.

Just think about it, Gandhi commanded hundred of millions of followers, chances are he would have got fewer people killed by just commanding his followers to attack the British. Just saying. I respect Gandhi more that pretty much anything in this world.

“Robert’s got a quick hand.
He’ll look around the room, he won’t tell you his plan.
He’s got a rolled cigarette, hanging out his mouth he’s a cowboy kid.
Yeah he found a six shooter gun.
In his dads closet hidden in a box of fun things, and I don’t even know what.
But he’s coming for you, yeah he’s coming for you…
~…Yeah the slight of my hand is now a quick pull trigger,
I reason with my cigarette,
And say your hair’s on fire, you must have lost your wits, yeah.
~All the other kids with the pumped up kicks you’d better run, better run, outrun my gun.
All the other kids with the pumped up kicks you’d better run, better run, faster than my bullet…” – Foster The People

would anyone say that the throwing of rocks at a bear invading your campsite is a violent act? I highly doubt it. IT would be viewed as a defence measure. It is also a statement; Get the FUCK off my land before you destroy me

Memphis, I would not advise to throw rocks at a bear. Although it reminds me a story told by hikers whose food was stolen by a bear. The husband schepped down to Yosemitee Valley to get food again, an operation that took full day, and they again hanged the knapsack between the trees, and she-bear with cubs came again to the campsite — she learned the trick of tugging at the rope to bring the knapsack down. At that pointed they shouted and chased the bear away.

Bears have a certain sense of right and wrong. One her own territory the bear could be ferocious and there would be no stopping her without heavy ammo (or potent tranquilizer darts). But in this case the bear knew it was not her campground.

It is of some importance that IDF alleges that the dead demonstrator had slingshot in the pocket, not in his hands. And that he was killed “execution style”, from what looks like 5 meters, from behind a door. It was an execution, and an ambush. I am prepared to offer a modest wager (50 euro?) that IDF will not be able to identify the killer. Or at least, disclose his or her name, something that Knesset wants to criminalize.

After reading those disgusting tweets, viewing the video of that IDF woman smugly disassembling (white phosphorus @Gaza), the comments sections at Haaretz/JPost/virtually every American news website, and of course the hateful comments from DanMazella…

How is it so shocking that people begin to feel antisemitic?

At this point, every hateful comment by a MORON (because that is what he is), eee or Dan or DBG or Witty or hophmi (Palestinians are Nazis) – is just adding more and more fuel to the fire.

If I were raised differently. If I were simple-minded and conspiratorial then I’d hate Jews. That’s just the honest truth.

And even though I’ve never met any Jews or Muslims (one guy in high school, who wasn’t very religious anyway; although I saw Muslim girls at college b/c of the hijab) – it’s really infuriating. This feeling.

I imagine it’s the same for people on the other side too. You have to be so stupid though to let that spill over. To buy into idiots at FrontPageMag or Jennifer Rubin (who Robert Werdine, the fake-Arab/Muslim admired, while simultaneously bashing Annie for her initial, not final, claim that the Itamar murders were carried out by Thai workers), etc.

I should be happy. I’m not though. If anyone has heard of Louis CK the comedian, he’s fantastic. I’m not oppressed. I have white people problems (see the joke from Louis CK, I’m not implying all white people are rich, it’s a relative statement made in jest). B/c I’ve basically identified as American (not Indian) and practically as a ‘white’ American.

I kept thinking about what I want to do w/ my life. Doctors without borders maybe. For a couple years now, that’s been the goal.

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